Bender Snubs N.C. State

As the original target date for hiring a North Carolina State basketball coach came and went, University of Washington coach Bob Bender became the latest candidate to say he’s not interested.

Bender told reporters in Seattle that he had been contacted by Wolfpack officials this week, but had asked not to be considered for the job as Les Robinson’s successor.

Bender, Kansas’ Roy Williams, Oklahoma’s Kelvin Sampson and Stanford’s Mike Montgomery are coaches known to have shunned State’s advances.

The only known active candidate is Miami of Ohio’s Herb Sendek, although Iowa State’s Tim Floyd, formerly of Idaho, remains a subject of speculation.

One week after Seth Greenberg resigned as Long Beach State’s head coach, the school said it’s ready to interview four candidates for the vacant position.

The four candidates who will be interviewed are current Long Beach assistant Clyde Vaughan, Long Beach City College head coach Gary Anderson, Oregon assistant Bobby Braswell and Cal State Bakersfield head coach Pat Douglass.

Pepperdine announced that guard Jelani Gardner is transferring to the West Coast Conference school from the University of California and will have two years of eligibility remaining.